Experimental investigation of a bistable system in the presence of noise and delay.

We experimentally analyze the behavior of a non-Markovian bistable system with noise, using a vertical cavity surface emitting laser with time-delayed optoelectronic feedback. The effects of the delayed feedback are observed in the probability distribution of the residence times of the two orthogonal polarization states, and in the polarization-resolved power spectrum. They agree well with recent theoretical predictions based on a two-state model with transition rates depending on an earlier state of the system. We also observe experimentally and explain theoretically that the residence time probability distribution deviates from exponential decay for residence times close to (and smaller than) the delay time.